Crystal River current., 1887-03-12
DRESS REFORM.
Modal ~ VTnv. AAvtra

A Lecturer Presents Herself as a
Model of Her Own Advice.
There was not stylish new bonnet
in the audience that assembled at the
Universalist Church last evening to hear
Mrs. Jenness Miller lecture on dress
reform. There were staid married
women, elderly women and some young
women, while here and there was a
man. It was good audience to talk
to, as glance at the kindly, intelli-
gent faces would show, but there did
not seem to be present any of that class
from which coverts might be expected.
The young lady with the attenuated
waist, high heels and other attractive
frivolities was not there and against the
foil ies of this class the lecturers wit
and sarcasm were mostly directed She
made a pretty picture as she sat upon
the platform while Rev. Mr.. Kent
briefly said a few words of introduc.
ton. and the most critical of her sex
would acknowledge her beauty, what
ever they might think of the dress.
The ladies present were, of course in
terested in the dress, which represented
one of the types in the proposed dress
reform. 1t was in point of style what
is known as princess dress, with the
sides and back of dark blue velvet and
the front a soft mass of white CASH
mere. with plenty of Irish lace. Every
body said, "What lovely dressH' and
then waited with interest to hear what
the owner of the dress had to say.
She began to talk. and she talked
fluently and well for about an hour,
showing familiarity with her subject
a nd 80
what she was saying. II was not an
illustrated lecture, as some might have
supposed from the fact that the lady
ent occasions. and so the gentlemen
She spoke of the evils of the present
style of dress and the injurious effect
upon health and life, and yet. while all
women readily acknowledge all this.she
said they have not the power to free
themselves from the bondage of fash
ions which emanate from unknown and
irresponsible sources. She ridiculed
the mock modesty which allowed wom-
en- to go into public places with the up
per portion of their body practically
nude, yet would shrink from any ex-
posure of the lower limbs. These por-
tions of the anatomy. the lecturer urg-
ed, differed in no material respect, from
that of men, and there was no reason
why women could not have rs much
freedom and ease in the T. movements
as the opposite sex. For street wear,
she advocated short dresses, She con-
de,nned corsets and high heels, and her
description of the suffering entailed
upon women by the stylish modes of
dress, she said, could be verified in the
faces and movements of the fashiona-
bly, dressed women one meets. The
corset, of course, was the main subject
for attack. She said that by merc-
full arrangement the region of the waist
mad BEEN made strong and capable of
enduring severe treatment. and this ac-
counted for the existence of women af-
ter so many years of this style of dress.
If men were obliged to dress as women
do they would be dead in short time,
and while the speaker did not advocate
murder, yet she thought it would be
right to make some man an awful eX-
ample for the good effect upon the
minds of women. She said that in ad-
vocating Il reform in dress s.she wanted
to begin with the lady of fashion, for it
was the style of dress worn by such a
woman that was initiated by the SER
wants ana others.
Mrs. Toplofty let out her corsets and
had large waist. then large waists be-
came the style, and SO of light sleeves
and other denominations. The sickly,
helpless, delicate women, whose con-
dition was the result of the fashionable
atyle of dressing, in her opinion wero
not desirable as wives, were unfit for
any useful duty, and entailed misery
upon their children and unhappiness
upon their husbands. The remedy for
all this lay in the hands of the women.
They were slaves to a power which had
no legitimate right to rule. The dress
makers who made money from the
change in the style were principally re-
sponsible for what is. known as fash
ionable dress. and why civilized women
should yield blind, unquestioning sub
mission to such an authority was indeed
a marvel. The speaker was very Sc
we're upon the tollies and vanities of
women, but paused in the midst Of her
invective long enough to remark to the
men present that if her subject hap
pened to be men she could say equally
severe things. However, she did not
say them, and the men enjoyed the lee
way home that Mrs. Miller expressed
their ideas exactly. After the lecture
Mrs. Miller was surrounded by bevy
of women who wanted to get closer
look at her costume, which, in accord
ance with her ideas. was adapted to the
natural curves of the body and was not
separated in two parts, as she said.-
Washington Star,